Russian forest sector forms an attractive market for harvesting and logging equipment, however the position of Russian manufacturers is extremely weak. A brief overview of the current state of the market is presented with reference to the open sources. Its features are mentioned as compared to the road construction and agricultural machinery sectors. Three transnational companies dominate the Russian market of harvesting and logging equipment: John Deere, Ponsse and Komatsu. Most of the purchased equipment falls on machines for cut-tolength technology, such as harvester and forwarder. The market volume of new machines is estimated at 330–420 forwarders, 165–300 harvesters, about 30–40 feller bunchers and the same number of skidders. There were two waves in the consolidation of the position of foreign companies in Russia. The first was connected with the delivery of equipment and the development of foreign brands in Russia against the background of still high-profile positions of Russian manufacturers in the market. The second is the takeover of enterprises having a service network and reputation by diversified transnational corporations. The main strategies of the leading companies in the current situation are the export of equipment to Russia and the development of a service network. Companies do not turn to another level associated with the opening of production sites or joint ventures for the production of harvesting and logging machines. The Russian market is characterized by the absence of a strong Russian manufacturer of harvesting and logging machines, which is ready to significantly influence or actively participate in the processes of import substitution. The position of such a manufacturer is gradually occupied by the Belarusian Amkodor Holding. The purchase of new harvesting and logging machines can afford major timber companies. The main production sites of harvesting and logging machines are located in Finland, Sweden, USA, and Canada. In order to support forestry machine engineering, in addition to economic measures of stimulation approved in other sectors, it is proposed: to organize the work of scientific forest engineering centers on the base of public-private partnership with the financial support from the major vertically-integrated timber corporate groups; to stimulate the development of Russian sector-specific information technologies for harvesting and logging; to initiate the partnership with companies from the People’s Republic of China to launch the design and production of new-generation harvesting and logging machines.
Innovation governance in the forest sector: Reviewing concepts, trends and gaps
